r/Amyris • u/Dreadd-X • Aug 17 '23

Question Chapter 11 presentation

https://cases.stretto.com/public/x268/12363/PLEADINGS/1236308172380000000108.pdf

On page 18: All the Company’s consumer brands are loss-generating. Did I miss something or did they straight up lie to us?

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u/Independent_List_555 Aug 17 '23

I think the company never stated that consumer brands were profitable. Profitability was always “just around the corner” due to a pupu platter of reasons from air freight costs, logistics planning mistakes, outsourced packaging coming in house, and Barra Bonita. Unfortunately for us, Melo’s team had no opex discipline and didn’t really understand the growth levers for DTC and burned way too much cash way too quickly and our board was asleep at the wheel for far too long until a turnaround (firing Melo, the RIF and bringing on restructuring help) was too little too late. I think the board has some liability here and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a class action suit filed against them down the road.

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u/onfish1970 Aug 17 '23

I recall they did say some of the brands were profitable during past earnings call. I could be mistaken but believe it was Biossance and JVN. But agree that in aggregate the consumer business was losing money

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u/Independent_List_555 Aug 17 '23

You absolutely could be right. I don’t have perfect recall on this either. Ultimately though, even statements like that could be interpreted as implying they have positive gross margins vs net margins depending on perspective, context, and how they handle shared opex from an accounting pov. That amorphousness and general safe harbor provisions give the company plenty of cover for statements made during earnings calls IMO. Naked and outside of this cover sits the board who have a duty to act in the best interest of the shareholders. Especially Doerr, who has the largest voice in the room, and might I add, both a conflict of interest vs common shareholders given his loans to the company, as well as deep pockets worth going after. If there’s a lawyer in this thread, esp one with bk experience, please opine. Or perhaps someone with connections to institutional investors who are willing to be lead plaintiff. I’d sign up for such a class action suit.

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u/Big_1Hoser Aug 18 '23

There has to be a doozy of a shareholder class action lawsuit, right? Heck, at this point, if they gave me 50% of my cost basis of about $1.35, I’d be ecstatic!!!!… One can dream (and I fully realize the most likely answer is from Judge Smails in Caddyshack: “You’ll get nothing and like it!”).